Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club

The Green Mile (1996)

Originally published in six small books, chapbooks, in monthly installments

A #1 New York Times Bestseller

Plume trade edition (left) - 462 pages
Pocket books paperback (right) - 536 pages

From reading this one would think that Stephen King has been writing serialized novels his whole career, he does such a masterful job of it.  He doesn't employ the cliffhanger endings to each episode I was expecting, but instead closes each volume just when the reader feels the greatest sense of intrigue about the plot or the strongest attachment to the characters.  The present-day framework beginning each volume is nothing short of brilliant.  Setting out just to remind his readers what has transpired, King arrives at a terrific parallel between a retirement home and death row.  Even throw-away lines, like Paul's observation that Alzheimer's is AIDS for old people, are terrific, and Paul's present-day perspective adds emotional impact to the moving story of John Coffey on the Mile.

The main part of the story is effectively told, and the final execution scene is very powerful.  The characterization is strong throughout.  John Coffey in particular is wonderfully enigmatic and delivers many chilling lines ("They're still in there.  I hear them screaming.").  King also uses his story as an effective vehicle for social commentary about racism and capital punishment, but without lecturing.  My quibbles - the abilities of Mr. Jingles seem overdone to me, since they never really tie into the plot; the description of the death of Paul's wife is unnecessary - are very minor in the face of what King has achieved.

As this novel demonstrates, King is one of the most talented writers alive today.  He doesn't get the credit he deserves because he has been branded a mere horror writer (even though many of his best stories, like The Green Mile, really aren't horror at all), and because he is too successful commercially for jealous and/or snobbish critics to accept him as a legitimate author.